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Similarities Between Hamlet And Oedipus

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Hamlet the Good Hero Back to a long time ago when I was young, my mom would tell me stories about heroes go out and save the day. But behind that glorious scene, most heroes have a background story and it is not a perfect picture sometimes. As human, people tend to make mistakes overtime and flaws are definitely inevitable. After reading Oedipus and Hamlet, they are both heroes with significant tragic story. Hamlet fits more with the definition of a hero than Oedipus for his motivations, traits and actions. Hamlet and Oedipus share some common background, as in they both come from well-off families. Oedipus was born with the blood of gods and also raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope in Corinth. Hamlet was the prince of Denmark, soon to be king. They also have somewhat similar motivation when it comes to the the decision and need to kill the current king from each story. Hamlet’s motivation is the fact that he was questioning about his father’s death as well as his mom’s strange reaction since she had already moved on to a new marriage with Hamlet’s uncle. Oedipus’ is more …show more content…

He is a great person and being loved by others. He is a hero, a tragic one that fits Aristotle’s definition. Throughout most scholars note, it is Hamlet’s mistake to act quickly that caused the demolition of most character in the story. But having to live at his time, Hamlet thought killing the king wrongfully would cause his eternal life. And that ghost were evil spirits and were sent to disturb the lives of the living. Hamlet is still a hero, even though he often overthinking about a situation and lose his chances. Being driven and guided by his father ghost, he made the best out of the situation that he did not prepared for, and had his goal was accomplished. His path was uneasy. So what he made a few mistake, it just shows that after all, he is still a human

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1126 Words | 5 Pages

Back to a long time ago when I was young, my mom would tell me stories about heroes go out and save the day. But behind that glorious scene, most heroes have a background story and it is not a perfect picture sometimes. As human, people tend to make mistakes overtime and flaws are definitely inevitable. After reading Oedipus and Hamlet, they are both heroes with significant tragic story. Hamlet fits more with the definition of a hero than Oedipus for his motivations, traits and actions.

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932 Words | 4 Pages

The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.

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699 Words | 3 Pages

Although Homer and Shakespeare lived centuries apart, they both managed to write their own masterpieces that were well ahead of their time. Homer, an ancient Greek writer creates a very intelligent character, Odysseus, who experiences the highs and lows of life and identity formation. Similar to Homer, Early seventeenth-century English playwright, Shakespeare, tailors his main character to have similar attributes to that of Odysseus. Both characters are intelligent, quick witted and natural born leaders, and their creators both focused heavily on their wits and their moral didacticism, which is portrayed throughout both the Odyssey and Hamlet. When creating Odysseus, Homer didn’t leave him without any admirable traits.

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1083 Words | 5 Pages

The character foil between Hamlet and Ophelia is mainly based on the death of their father and grief. Ophelia and Hamlet are difference in the way that they grieved for their father’s deaths. When Hamlets Father dies Hamlet is full of grief which turns into anger towards Claudius and Gertrude this is shown when Hamlet

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565 Words | 3 Pages

In his first soliloquy, he expresses his intense grief and inner conflict of wanting to commit suicide but not wanting to be punished by God. From this the audience can infer one of Hamlet’s fatal flaws; he is indecisive. He is constantly searching for certainty, since he is unable to make decisions without it. Although Hamlet is wary of the story given to the public to explain the King’s sudden death, it is not until the ghost confirms his suspicions and he uncovers the truth that he vows to “Remember thee!”. He suspects foul play was involved, yet he never acts on this uncertainty until certainty is provided for him.

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409 Words | 2 Pages

Critic Northrop Frye claims that tragic heroes “seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them… Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” A perfect example of this assertion would be King Oedipus in the classical tragic play “Oedipus Rex,” written by Sophocles, where Oedipus, himself, becomes the victim of his doomed fate. As someone who was born and raised of royal blood, he becomes too proud and ignorant, believing that he was too powerful for his fate. Using the metaphor “great trees [are] more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass,” Frye compares the heroic but unfortunate Oedipus to the great trees as they both are apt to experience victimization of tragic situations

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628 Words | 3 Pages

Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.

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1170 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet Comparison Essay There are many qualities that make an effective and powerful leader. Some leaders strive for greatness; others strive to make history. Though their goals may differ, all can agree that the most important component of leadership is earning the respect of those who follow you and being responsible with the power you earn. There are many strong leaders in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, though not all are effective.

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578 Words | 3 Pages

While there is a fairly large time gap between these two pieces of literature, both explore how the arrogance of one can lead to a tragic outcome and how both Hamlet and Oedipus are tragic heroes. However, whereas

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577 Words | 3 Pages

Could one's own act of pride and anger be the result of their downfall? Throughout the play Oedipus is seen as a great hero and savior to the people of Thebes however, we soon start to learn that Oedipus has a tragic flaw. Oedipus’s tragic flaw lies in his pride and anger which blinds and leads him to his demise.       From the start of his journey to the end of it Oedipus was always blinded by both his pride and his anger. During a feast at Corinth a man taunted him for not being the son of Polybus and blinded by his pride he could not think of anything else.

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1467 Words | 6 Pages

How can I say such a thing? That is easy Hamlet is a villain because while he is acting to avenge his father’s death, he is willing to sacrifice anyone he has to get his revenge. Of course, one can argue that Claudius intentionally killed old Hamlet, which makes him a far better nominee for villain then

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887 Words | 4 Pages

In William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, the most heroic and brave character is young Hamlet. Despite the fact Hamlet is stranded amidst a court filled with dishonesty and misconduct and is confronted by the death of his father and his mom 's relatively quick marriage to his father 's brother, he is viewed as daring and bold in the minds of readers. For, it is his courageousness, fearlessness, determination and bravery that proves that Hamlet is not only a strong willed individual but also the most heroic character in the play. " But two months dead…my poor father’s body…why she married with my uncle, my father’s brother, but no more like my father…But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue" (

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1844 Words | 8 Pages

The quote, "We admire Hamlet as much for his weaknesses as for his strengths", aptly describes my feelings towards this troubled young prince. It is simply impossible to characterise Hamlet as good or bad, strong or weak. It is my aim to show the depth of Hamlet 's personality and to explain to the best of my ability the traits which make him who he is. Hamlet is the neither the hero nor the villain of his story- he is simply a victim, a young man slowly losing his grip on sanity over the course of the play.

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932 Words | 4 Pages

In spite of everything, Hamlet ends up dying a hero due to his best friend Horatio, fulfilling his final dream, which was to tell the truth about his tragic story. The new king of Denmark, Fortinbras, states that Hamlet be remembered as a fallen soldier, “Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, for he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved most royal; and for his passage, the soldier’s music and the rite of war, speak loudly for him” [V.ii 441-446]. Through this closing quote of the play the audience is able to understand Fortinbras’ decision to have Hamlet remembered as a hero. One must remember throughout the novel that Hamlet’s ambiguous decisions were solely to redress the murder of his father who was slain out of jealousy and the acquisitive desire of his uncle

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880 Words | 4 Pages

Through the entirety of the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the characters were overcome with the need for revenge as the outcome of many deaths. Therefore, no one was happy through “Hamlet” and it resulted in a tragedy. The character Hamlet played a big role in turning towards revenge and never would classify himself as being happy. Hamlet displays positive and negative behavior throughout the play. Hamlet exhibits strengths and weaknesses as well, although his weaknesses of over-thinking, bitterness, and his inability to accept the death of his father overshadow his strengths.

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